We Spied The New Aston Martin Vantage Roaring Around The Track With Its AMG-Sourced V8

The marriage between Aston Martin looks and AMG power is a match made in heaven.

Now that the brand-defining Aston Martin DB11 is stampeding in the wild with all 5.2-liters of V12 fury, its smaller stablemate, the Vantage, is slated to follow in the path it just cleared. Our spy photographers have just caught evidence that the follow-up will also be one ferocious animal after seeing it in the metal. Luckily the ferocity won’t turn the baby Aston into a handful because this sophisticated machine will be built on a slightly smaller version of the DB11’s platform.

A platform is not the only thing that the new Vantage shares with the DB11. Aesthetically, the two cars look nearly identical. Careful eyes will spot the fact that the Vantage test vehicle is slightly shorter than the DB11. This is because it looses its 2+2 coupe designation and instead seems to be more content with the conventional driver +1 arrangement. On spiraling roads this new Vantage should come alive with lively handling that will hug the pavement courtesy of a longer, wider, and lower track over its more than impressive predecessor. Like nearly all Aston Martins (which don’t lose aesthetic appeal with the years), this should translate to a driver experience akin to stepping inside the fountain of youth.

And what a cocoon to be inside, with interior elements stolen out of the DB11 ensuring that the interior is just as fetching as the exterior. To give the soulful machine a heart, the Vantage will take in a turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 from the AMG orphanage which will then be mated to a proper six-speed manual transmission. Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer once said AM would be the last automaker to offer manuals if it came down to that. That being said a seven-speed auto will likely be on offer as well. The range-topping Vantage will inherit Aston Martin’s new twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12 from the DB11 for customers who wish to emulate James Bond. Expect to see the production version by fall of 2017 with a topless twin debuting some six to nine months later.